by Ruby Vincent
We made it to the bins, stripped out of the overalls, and abandoned them. Dripping wet, we burst into the hotel and ran up the stairs. My cheeks hurt from laughing so hard, but I couldn’t keep the smile off my face.
“See what you did, Moon?” He charged me and attacked my sides with his fingers. “You got us kicked off the tour.”
Shrieking, I danced away. “No tickling,” I cried. “It’s a good thing we were booted. I’d hate to see what kind of rescue you’d pull if I fell in with the alligators.”
“As we’ve seen, I’d fall in with you and we’d die together.” He came for me again, but I took off, racing toward my room.
Ryder caught me inches from the door and lifted me up as I squealed. He pressed me against the wall and kissed me again. This time I didn’t think of pulling away.
If there were words to describe what it was like kissing Ryder, I did not know them. I only knew that my entire body felt alive. The fingers at the nape of my neck. The hand on my thigh. His chest pressed against mine. I felt them so keenly like my nerves had been dulled before, but now were sparking with life.
I pulled away, breaking our kiss. Ryder looked down at me in confusion as I panted. “We’re covered in disgusting water,” I explained. “We should do like Patchett said and... get cleaned up.”
I gazed into his eyes, hoping he saw what I wanted him to see in mine. “Good idea,” he whispered.
Ryder stepped back as I walked up to my room and let myself in. I padded across the carpet as I grabbed the hem of my shirt and lifted it over my head. It fell to the floor with a wet squelch and my jeans soon joined it. I paused before my bed and turned, facing him in silk, white underwear that was now see-through.
My hands shook as they reached for the clasp of my bra. I had done this plenty of times before. There was no reason for me to be nervous, but yet I was. Ryder once said this couldn’t happen because of our history. He had done things too terrible to ever be forgiven, but it was that history that made this moment even more miraculous. It took trust and faith the likes of which most people could never reach to bring us to this moment. I was giving Ryder more than my body. I was trusting him with all of me, and as I looked into his eyes, I knew I had no reason to be afraid.
Ryder’s eyes darkened as my breasts were freed from their prison. I hooked my thumb through my panties.
“No, wait,” he said. “I’ll do that.”
Still dressed, he crossed the room and knelt at my feet. I held my breath as he grasped my thighs and pressed a kiss to my stomach.
“Don’t tease me, Ryder,” I whispered.
He tilted his head back and flashed me a grin that made my core throb. “I would never.” He moved up my thigh, pinched the fabric between his fingers, and slowly pulled it down. He stood as I stepped out of it and pulled his shirt over his head.
I feasted on the dips and ridges of his chest until I remembered this wasn’t a look-but-don’t-touch situation. I touched.
I ran my hands all over his body as he undid his belt and pulled down his pants. Then my hands continued their journey down.
Ryder caught my wrist before my fingers could wrap around his member. “Come on.”
Giggling, we hurried into the bathroom. I pulled back the frosted doors and flicked on the steamy water.
“Hold on, Val.”
I twisted around and saw him heading toward the door. “Ryder, I swear, if you say we can’t do this and give me some line about not deserving me, I will drown you in that swamp.”
He barked a laugh. “I was going to run out and lock the door. Just in case.”
“Oh. Well then, carry on.”
Ryder stepped out. When he came back, I was in the tub, letting the warm water heat my chilled skin. I gazed at him as he stepped inside. I used to compare Ryder to a Greek statue—timeless, chiseled perfection, but while those nude guys tended to be lacking between the legs, Ryder did not have that problem.
My pulse quickened. I should have sent him out for a condom.
You’re not going to be with Ryder for the first time on a school trip with Ace outside the door and Markham on the prowl, common sense countered. When we’re finally together, I plan on taking my time.
I grinned as he stalked toward me, pulling me into his arms and pressing our wet bodies together.
Until then, I’ll take advantage of this stolen moment.
Ryder tilted my head back and latched on the sensitive part of my neck. I gasped as the shower rained down on my face.
He kissed a sizzling trail over my collarbone and down through the valley of my breasts. I thought I knew where he was going but suddenly, he came back up. My disappointment was lost when he kissed me.
We had fun sudsy-ing up each other and running our hands over our soapy bodies. I loved him like this—when he held nothing back and was enjoying being with me as much as I was with him.
“Ryder,” I said between dropping kisses along his jaw. “For your next labor, let’s go to a hotel and spend the weekend together.”
“S-sorry,” he said huskily. His voice deepened with desire and the effect made me pulse with need. “You don’t get to pick your labors.”
I didn’t pause in kissing him. “I bet I could convince you.”
He groaned. “I bet you could too.”
I took his hands and moved them off my waist until they rested on my breasts. Ryder let out another tortured groan. “You and me.” I kissed him. “Next weekend.” Another kiss. “Soft sheets. No interruptions.” Kiss. Kiss. Kiss. “How does that sound?”
I kissed him again, but slower this time, taking my time as his heart pounded beneath my hand. He spoke against my lips when we broke apart. “I’d be a fucking idiot to turn that down, and I’m definitely not that.”
“So next weekend?”
“Next weekend.” He stepped back, flashing me that grin that made my heart race. “But as for right now.”
I didn’t know what he meant until he got down on his knees. The bubbles returned with a vengeance as Ryder backed me against the frosted glass. Carefully, he lifted one leg on his shoulder and then the other. I stifled a squeak when his mouth found me.
I tried to hold it in, biting my lip so hard it almost bled, but one swipe of his tongue and a moan ripped from my throat. The bubbles expanded out from my stomach and filled me with pleasure that crossed my eyes. My nails dug into Ryder’s scalp as the pressure crested and then finally exploded into sunbursts.
Boneless, Ryder slid me down the glass and laid me next to him on the porcelain floor. The shower spray beat against our skin as he draped his arm around me.
“Next weekend,” he said softly.
I smiled. “Next weekend.”
I don’t know how long we lay there, but it was long enough for the water to turn cold. Eventually, we picked ourselves up and stepped out of the tub. We wrapped up in thick, fluffy towels and padded out of the bathroom.
Sofia grinned at us from her bed. “Hey, guys.”
A flush crept up my neck as she gave me that knowing look. “How long have you been here?”
“Long enough, my friend. Long enough.” Sofia shifted her attention to Ryder. “I got Jaxson to sneak over some dry clothes, but you better go. Markham came by twice looking for you. I told her you went for a walk.”
“Got it. Thanks, Sof.”
“No problem.”
Ryder took up his clothes and went back into the bathroom. I perched myself on the edge of the bed and riffled through my bag. “How was the rest of the tour?”
“It was cool. Clancy took us to see the alligators. Creepy little things. They just sit there staring at you with those dead eyes. I don’t know what I’d do if I was splashing around and those beady-eyed devils suddenly popped up next to me.”
“Wish I could have seen them.”
She raised her brows. “Yeah, right. I think the sightseeing you were doing was way better.”
I ducked my head. “Are you trying to see how red you can get
my cheeks because it’s working.”
She laughed. “Not trying to make you blush, but I want every single detail when he’s gone.”
As if on cue, the bathroom door opened and Ryder stepped out in black jeans and a sweater. He favored me with one last kiss before hurrying out the door.
“He’s gone. Spill.”
I shrugged out of my towel and got dressed while I spoke. “It’s not as juicy as you think. We didn’t have sex.”
“Is he still going on about not deserving you?”
“No, I threatened his life so hopefully that’s over.” I pulled my blouse over my head and then stepped into my jeans. “But we both seemed to agree we didn’t want our first time to be in a tub with my best friend outside the door.” I shot her a look that she accepted with a smile. “We’re going to get together over the break.”
“That’s great, Val. I’m so happy for you.” Her grin turned wicked. “Your harem will soon be complete.”
“It’s not a harem!” I cried. I jumped on top of her, pinning her to the bed as she shrieked. “But if it was... hell yeah, it is.”
Sofia bucked and flipped me over. I went down laughing, feeling so happy I almost forgot about lurking Spades and Ace.
“We should go to lunch,” Sofia said when she let me up. “This is our only free afternoon so Zane and Kai want to catch the movie screening. They even snuck in popcorn.”
“I knew there was a reason I kept those twins around.”
OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS, Patchett put us through everything she threatened. We woke up early, scarfed down breakfast, and then headed out to tramp through the swamps collecting samples, learning about water purity, and enduring lectures in rubber outfits while being tortured by the humidity and opportunistic mosquitoes.
Despite all of that, my friends and I managed to have a good time. We made sure to go in the opposite direction every time someone from the other class came our way and we laughed ourselves sick when Kai, Jaxson, Maverick, and Paisley ended up slipping in the swamp too. It was almost like we were regular teenagers on a school trip.
“Regular teenagers don’t have to go through this shit!” Kai cried. He flung his pen across the room, narrowly missing Ezra when he came through the door.
“Watch it, man.” Ezra set my mug on the coffee table and then joined me on the floor. The original nine—Me, Ryder, Ezra, Maverick, Jaxson, Sofia, Kai, Zane, and Paisley—had taken up a sitting room in the back of the hotel. It was a nice spot with wall-to-wall windows and plenty of comfy couches and chairs for us to spread out and work on our papers.
I thanked Ezra for the tea as he hooked his arm around me and kissed my neck, making goosepimples pop on my skin. That was all he did and all he would do in front of an audience. I had not been able to risk another stolen moment with any of the guys, which made me all the more thankful we would be leaving the next day and going on break.
“I’m serious,” Kai continued. “We have to do a paper on what we learned while being eaten alive in a swamp. Other seniors are coasting their way to graduation.”
“There’s no such thing as coasting in Evergreen,” Maverick replied. “Dad told me he dealt with the workload while writing his first program. He was so sleep-deprived he developed a twitch.”
“That clearly paid off,” said Paisley. “He twitched his way to a billion-dollar company.”
He shrugged. “He was under a lot of pressure though. First in the family to graduate from high school and his family depending on him to make something of himself.”
Ezra sighed. “We all know that pressure.”
“Sup, guys.”
I looked around Ezra to the doorway. Eric, Ciara, and Claire stood there with laptops under their arms. “Mind if we join?”
“Sure,” I said. “You guys can grab some coffee table.”
The three of them came in and sat down around the table. Ciara took the spot on my other side. She pointed at my closed laptop. “Are you done?”
“Yep. Unlike these guys”—I nudged Ezra’s shoulder—“I wrote half a page of my paper every night so that I could get the last day off to sit here sipping tea.”
I laughed when Kai flipped me off.
“Great minds think alike,” Ciara replied. “Do you want to check mine and I’ll read yours?”
“Ezra already polished it up for me, but I’ll give yours a look.”
“Ciara, you can read mine.” Claire passed her laptop over. “I’m almost done. Just the conclusion left.”
We lapsed into a silence that was only broken by the tapping of keys. Markham poked her head in the room a few times, but we were good about doing our own work, and only helping each other for the final proofread. No one was willing to risk a zero.
Claire typed the final period on her conclusion and stood up. “Since we’re finished, do you guys want to hang out while they work?”
“Sure.” Ciara got to her feet and both of them looked down at me expectantly.
“Okay.” I twisted around to give Ezra a kiss before picking up my things and following them out.
“The dining room is open all day,” Ciara said. “Let’s get those chocolate biscuits.”
I moaned. “I’ve eaten my weight in those since we got here. I’m going to wake up over break with a dozen zits.”
“They will all be worth it.”
We busted out laughing. I forgot sometimes how much I liked hanging out with them—which was easy to do considering how often they ditched me.
They also stood up and walked out of that cafeteria. That has to count for something.
The three of us wandered into the dining room and begged the staff for all the chocolate biscuits in the building.
“No one can resist them,” the waiter said with a wink. “Most don’t try.”
“Put me in that category,” I said. “I’m embracing the zits.”
Claire snorted her laughter. “You crack me up, Val. I miss us hanging out like this.”
My smile dimmed as she echoed my earlier thought. The waiter wandered away as my lack of reply hung in the air between us.
Claire lowered her head. “Val, I know there is nothing I can say—”
“Don’t.”
“But I want to apologize.”
“Don’t bother, Claire. It’s like you said. There’s nothing you can say. So let’s put it behind us and move on.”
I turned away and headed for one of the dining tables. Claire darted into my path. “Okay, you might not need to hear it, but I need to say it. I’ve never felt this awful in my life.”
I clenched my fists. Fine. If she wants to do this, let’s do it.
“Why do you feel awful, Claire? Because you found out the real reason I was marked? If it turned out I deserved to be bullied and humiliated, you’d still be sleeping peacefully.”
“That’s not true. I’ve hated ignoring you all these years. We weren’t friends before Evergreen, but we became friends, and I never had many of those in my life. It killed me to turn my back on you but—”
“But you had a family depending on you to get them out of Wakefield, and you couldn’t risk that over me.” I scoffed. “I know, Claire. I’ve heard it before. The thing is, I had a family counting on me too, but I stayed. I fought. I did the right thing. You had the same choice. I can accept that you’re doing the right thing now, but I’ll never get how the girl who used to be picked on for being smart and called a freak, would turn around and bully someone else.”
I sidestepped her, but her hand flashed out, grabbing my arm. “Because I was a coward.”
It was those words, not her hand, that made me stop.
“I was the worst possible coward and I understand why it’s harder to forgive me. Of everyone in that school, I was the only person who knew where you were coming from. I knew what it was like to grow up the way we did. I knew what you went through in our middle school because I went through it too. I should have been there for you then, but I want you to know that whether you forgive
me or not, I will be here for you now.”
I was quiet for a long time. When I finally spoke, my voice was soft. “Even if another card shows up in my locker?”
“I’ll rip it up myself.”
I bobbed my head. “Even if I break out in massive pimples and give you bullying ammunition?”
She cracked the barest smile. “It’ll be hard, but I’ll hold myself back.”
I smiled too. “Okay, then let’s put this behind us.”
Claire held out her hands and enfolded me in a hug. A cough behind me broke into the moment. Ciara gave me an awkward smile when I turned to her.
“I don’t know if I can say it as well as Claire, but I want to apologize too.” She closed the distance between us as Claire backed away to give us space. “Do you remember freshman year? Natalie tripped you, and when I took you to the nurse, I said that no one wants to hurt you. This was just how things had to be.” She shook her head. “You rejected that for the bullshit it was and said that everyone had a choice. After you told me that, I decided I wouldn’t join in anymore. I would stay out of it, and whatever happened to you, at least I wouldn’t be part of it.
“I thought at the time it was enough to keep my conscience clear until... you told us about Professor LeBlanc. You were innocent the whole time and we were all used by a monster—even me. Staying silent was just as bad and I won’t do that anymore. I won’t ask you to forgive me either, but if it comes down to it, I’ll be next in line to sucker punch Natalie.”
I laughed.
“Seriously,” she insisted, smiling too. “Damn, that girl takes bitch to the next level. The best day of my life was when Sofia knocked her out.”
I pulled her in for a hug before she finished. “We’re hoping to keep this thing from getting physical, but I’ll keep that in mind if people start throwing hands.”
The next thing I knew, Claire was hugging the both of us. It got even more embarrassing when we started crying. The hug fest didn’t stop until the waiter came out with our biscuits and then we were busy stuffing our faces.
We moved off the heavy stuff and started talking about life after Evergreen, where we wanted to go to college, what we wanted to study, and things like that. After the food, we moved the party to the game room and converged on the pool table.